Have we reached peak Trump yet?
As the wounded Trump animal shelters in splendor @Mar-a-Lago, it plots new counterattacks against pursuers and detractors alike and a return to power it sees as its birthright. Is Trump destined for a triumphant return to the Oval Office, or has he jumped the shark once too often?
Trump clearly still wields fearsome power. With his naked attempt to convert the American Democratic Republic to a dictatorship under his control thwarted by over 81 million voters in the largest voter turnout in US history, he has turned his attention to consolidating his power over the Republican Party. The vast majority of Republicans are clicking their heels in compliance, vowing to go down with the SS Trump before surrendering. But there’s a book they might want to read first.
Rick Wilson is a Republican strategist, some might say operative. He’s no fan of Donald Trump. His 2018 New York Times bestseller titled Everything Trump Touches Dies underscored the harsh reality of doing business with Trump: your interests are subservient to his, and it’s not a matter of if he will cash you in, it’s only a matter of when.
Though his supporters can little see it, Trump is, if nothing else, an epic meltdown machine. A serial trainwreck in motion looking for the next curve in the tracks to derail, hurling all passengers into the cold night. Take note, Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy, that means you.
In fairness to McConnell and McCarthy, in the moments after the Capitol was stormed by Trump supporters at his direction, both, clearly shaken, moved to repudiate and distance themselves from Trump. They have been brought back by the Republican base, better defined as the Trump base, for now. So Trump’s populism remains his strength and his most potent weapon.
Trump was a uniquely unorthodox and unconventional president wielding power in unprecedented ways. The moment when his supporters stormed the Capitol, truly believing they could overthrow the US government and keep him in power, was thus far the high point of Trump’s campaign to control American affairs. Dark though it may have been.
Tump’s supporter army, assembled of individual participants from a wide array of American communities, now proves no match for federal law enforcement. The FBI can pick at its leisure which cases to prioritize and which to monitor. Trump’s brazen, full-scale assault on the Republic having failed, the question now arises: Has he played his strongest card to no avail? That question is best answered by another question: Will Trump be president again?
If the “massive wave of defections” from Republican voter ranks after the Capitol insurrection is any indication, while Trump’s control of the party remains nearly total, the party seems to be, if not imploding, at least contracting around him.
If Trump fails now, he takes everyone and everything who supported him with him. It would be a fitting tribute to the coronavirus victims they allowed to die.
